Living in Ireland during WWII – never-seen-before photos depict remarkable wartime era in new book

The remarkable era in Ireland’s modern history known as The Emergency has been vividly recolored by two award-winning historiographers.

Historian Michael B Barry and photographer John O’Byrne have teamed up for their new book, The Emergency in Colour.

The Emergency was a bleak period in Ireland during World War II, named so because the Government declared a state of emergency when war erupted.

Ireland maintained neutrality and enacted the Emergency Powers Act in 1939 to safeguard this stance. Publishers for the book stated: “The Emergency in Colour brings wartime Ireland to life in dramatic color.

“Amid the mortal danger of being invaded in the war’s early years, the rationing of provisions by ordinary citizens and the hurried training of a rapidly expanded and under-equipped Irish army.

“Life happened while war raged on. Through extensive research, a myriad of photos were painstakingly hand-colourised, showing what life on the island was like in extraordinary and transformative times.”

Over 200 photographs, many of which have never been seen before, are featured in a new publication accompanied by insights from historian MB Barry. A particularly striking photo on page 41 captures an older man engrossed in storytelling by a blazing fire, while his absorbed audience is surrounded by vivid colours.

This man is Micheal O hEanaigh, a seanchai a custodian of the ancient Gaelic tradition of storytelling and history pictured enthralling listeners at Teelin, in the Donegal Gaeltacht. Seancaithe are known to be the descendants of a rich Gaelic oral history practice that has endured for thousands of years.

The publishers shared: “It may be difficult to comprehend now in the era of television, internet and mobile devices, but during the 1940s, life was more social and there was a greater sense of community.

“Friends and neighbours in the Irish countryside used to entertain themselves at home with storytelling events like this. There was also a large variety of activities such as impromptu music sessions, traditional dancing, card games like poker and whist, listening to a radio at a friend’s house or simply conversing by the fireside.”

In another captivating visual on page 238, a woman’s eye-catching blue coat draws attention away from the fact that she’s carrying five loaves of bread, standing out amidst the predominantly green attire of others.

The image is captioned: “A satisfied customer strides from a shop in March 1946 bearing her loaves of white bread.”

A representative for the publishers explained: “The ending of the war did not result in abundance or end shortages. In Ireland, the period 1945 to 1948 was referred to as the Long Emergency.

“Drought and war had led to a global shortage of wheat and in 1947, the Irish government introduced rationing of flour and bread. In mid-May 1945, as the war concluded in Europe, the government had secured a Dail vote sanctioning the substantial sum of £3,000,000 for the relief of distress in Europe, despite Ireland’s limited resources.”

Another image that leaves a lasting impression is one featuring a coffin draped with the Nazi swastika flag at Hermann Goertz’s funeral. The striking red, white, and black flag dominates the scene on page 244.

Goertz was a German agent who operated in Ireland until his arrest in November 1941. He was paroled in 1946 and instructed to report to the Aliens Registration Office at Dublin Castle for an appointment on May 23, 1947, where he was to be served with a deportation order.

While waiting, Goertz ingested a cyanide capsule and died. He was laid to rest in a Luftwaffe uniform, and his coffin was covered with the swastika flag for his funeral at Deansgrange Cemetery four days later.

An extraordinary snapshot of renowned author Brendan Behan hammering away on a typewriter is showcased on page 38, vivid in its absence of primary colours but rich with autumnal browns, blacks, and whites.

The publishers share a poignant backstory: “In February 1940, Brendan Behan, aged 16, was sentenced at Liverpool’s Assizes to three years in Borstal, which became the basis of his 1958 masterpiece Borstal Boy.

“A member of the IRA, he had travelled to Liverpool on his own initiative to bomb the docks there, but was quickly arrested. Behan was deported to Ireland in November 1941 and was later arrested and sentenced for the attempted murder of Garda detectives and was to spend the rest of the Emergency in confinement.”

Flip to pages 74 and 75 and you’ll spot an image of folks learning how to fit gas masks, with the gents in suits of grey, black, and navy and a lady dressed in pink. It’s a scene from a gas mask drill at Fitzgerald Park in Cork.

The publication’s spokesperson shared: “There was a fear that gas bombs or shells would be used, like they had been in WWI. Gas masks were a ubiquitous sight during the Emergency, issued to protect the wearer from inhaling toxic gases.

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“In the event, none of the belligerents used poison gas in combat during WWII, although the Germans used gas in extermination camps during the Holocaust.”

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